Impact of the 11th of September on Arab American Identity - Research Paper Example

Impact of the 9/11 on Arab American Identity September 11, 2001 remains a day of remembrance in the history of the United States. The day saw one of the greatest terrorist attacks executed on US soil. Many innocent people were injured and killed in the terrible bombing of the Twin Towers. The bombing was carried out by Khaled Sheikh Mohammed an Arab Muslim extremist who was opposed to US foreign policies. There was also the involvement of Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda in the 9/11 bombing. These are terrorists opposed to American policies. They have a strong attachment to Islamic faith and doctrines. The fact that the terrorists involved in the 9/11 bombing incidence were Arab Muslims. This had a lot of impact on the Arab American society that has dominance by Muslims. Therefore, most Arab Americans were linked to terrorism. Life after the 9/11 incident became very difficult for the Arab American people who were detained and tortured for fears that they were linked to terrorist activities. This paper looks at the changes that took place in the American Security system after the 9/11 attack and how this, affected the Arab American society (Mittal 115) Several years after the 9/11 bombing, the United States has not yet recovered from the effects of the attacks. The events that took place on that tragic day are still very fresh in the minds of the American people. Everyone receive negative impact by the attacks on the United States citizens. However, the group that suffered most was the Arab American community. The aspect of being Arab and Muslim was shared between the Arab Americans and the terrorists, as well. The government and the public targeted the Arab Community. They faced scrutiny that they had never faced before as American citizens. Most of these people suffered detention, surveillance, deportation, interrogation and other forms of discrimination. Exploitation of the Arab American community by the government has also gotten the attention of most scholars who try to assess and air out their experiences (Bilici 133). He concludes that the 9/11 incident had some positive impacts on the Arab American communities and calls this “inclusion”. Being the main targets made the Arab American community be recognized by many people. Inclusion is based the assumption that being recognized paved way for being incorporated into the society. However, majority of the Arab American population was negatively affected by the post 9/11 impacts. The 9/11 incident was a huge shock to the American government. It showed that the government was not very efficient in its security system. Therefore, there was need for a change in the security system. More measures that are stringent were required in the nation’s security system. Therefore, the government created antiterrorist initiatives that largely affected the Arab Muslim communities worldwide. Some of the initiatives were operation PENTTBOM (Pentagon Twin Tower Bombing incident), National Security Exit-Entry Registration System (NSEERS), the Absconder Apprehension Initiative, and the voluntary interview program (Hussain 122). The target of all these initiatives was based on religious, ethnic, and racial identities. The government targeted twenty-five countries under NSEERS. Of these nations, Muslim populations dominated twenty-four. These policies created the impression that the Muslim communities were involved in terrorist activities against the United States. The policies went as far as victimizing Arab Americans. Most of these people were innocent American citizens who had no connections with the terrorist groups The Pentagon/Twin Towers Bombing investigation (PENTTBOM) was created to carry out investigations on the causes of the incident. The body initially had a mandate to track planes that were a threat to US national security. Closing down airports was one of the methods used to check for planes that posed a threat to national security. However, the body surpassed its mandate and looked for specific individuals involved in the 9/11 attacks. This was to be a step towards stopping future attacks. More stringent security measures were also setup. The immigrations department questioned people entering the United States from Muslim countries. Many people tried to challenge this type of questioning as unlawful, but it was allowed by the Supreme Court and nothing could be done. Iqbal, is a good example of an individual who tried to file a case concerning the brutal harassment and questioning of the Arab Muslim community. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court denied his petition. Selectivity in questioning and arresting people was biased towards one ethnic group. Muslims who were not even involved in terrorist activities were subjected to harassment from government officials (Mittal 117). PENTTBOM was determined to capture terrorists responsible for hijacking planes. They did their investigations well and provided a list of suspected terrorists to all government agencies. Suspects or not, all persons matching the profiles of those in the list were captured and detained unlawfully. The main victims of this injustice were the Arab American people. Most of these people were detained while others even deported. Most of the people deported had no connections with the terrorists. Most of this suspicion had basis on one’s racial identity. Only Arabs Muslims were detained. Most of the tips the FBI used to make one a suspect was gotten from civilians. Some of these tips were based on lies and prejudice (Mittal 119). Most people who provided these tips acted on personal grounds. They used the chance to give the FBI tips on terrorist whereabouts as grounds to exhibit their rage and hate against the Arab Muslim and South Asian communities. According to (Mittal 120), the Arab Muslim community suffered a lot from these acts of the government. Not only did PENTTBOM exploit and harass the Arab American community, but also instilled a lot of fear in these people. Most Arab Americans could not even walk freely within their country. They could not travel freely because of fear of being arrested and detained. Some of them even regretted being citizens of the United States. The National Security captured men from the Middle East and Asian countries for interrogations. This act by the government instilled fear among many people. Some went as far as fleeing the country to fetch asylum in other countries e.g. Canada. These rules were very tight and discriminatory against the Arab community in general. The security system mainly focused on men from countries with the largest Muslim populations. These people got locked up in closed cells and questioned for several days. The fact that NSEERS detained the Arab American community reinforces on the fact that the government exploited these people. The Muslim people in the United States were considered terrorists (Mittal 121). The security agencies also established detention centers all over the country. Some of these centers had heavy guarding, and no one could be allowed inside. Attorneys and people from the media were not allowed into these centers. The lack of communication link between the detention centers and the outside world enabled continued exploitation of the Arab American community in these centers. Javaid Iqbal was one of the detainees in the detention centers. He filed a case regarding brutality and harassment against the Arab Muslim community in the detention centers. Eight non-U.S. citizens were arrested and detained immediately after the 9/11 incident and charged with minor immigration violations. Seven of the eight men arrested were Muslims and one Hindu. The eight men detained constituted the Turkmen plaintiffs. The act by the government to detain Muslims created a lot of fear and unrest among the Arab community in the United States. The act was discriminatory. The Arab community in the United States has never lived in peace since the 9/11 attacks. They could be arrested anytime for questioning and tortured by the government officials because Muslims in the country were regarded as terrorists (Mittal 124). Courts are supposed to be places where people get justice. However, justice is not given for the victims of post 9/11 detention. The Supreme Court is seen as to promote social injustice and racial discrimination against the Arab American people. Discrimination is not portrayed in the Supreme Court alone. An act by the Oklohoma law to stop the amendment of Islamic Shariah law in the state despite the law getting 70 percent approval by the voters showed discrimination against Islam and the Muslims. In this case, the Oklohoma law created an isolated group of people who are not entitled to the privileges of citizenship. These are people whose freedom of religion is not respected. The law is being used to facilitate racism against Arabs and Muslims and develop Islamophobia among other citizens. After the 9/11 incident, the government developed several laws targeting the Arab and Muslims. This was in the name of national security policy. Islam and Muslims were depicted as the main threats towards national security. The 9/11 fueled the phobia for Islam as Muslims were subjected to several human rights violations. The government passed legislation to limit civil rights to Muslims as a step towards fighting the war on terror. Many innocent citizens were, therefore made victims of this legislation. As a result, the government started wars on Iraq and Afghanistan (Ali 1043). Several government agencies were given the mandate to implement the legislation against terrorism. The actions by the PENTTBOM and NSEERS agencies against the Arab Muslim community, created a sense of desperation and fear among these people. They experienced psychological and mental torture. The Iqbal case clearly shows the extent to which the government exploited the Arab Muslim community. The Attorney General Ashroft imprisoned Iqbal immediately after the 9/11 bombing. The victim then petitioned a case against the attorney general. However, the Supreme Court (Mittal 130) denied the case. Many Arab Muslim people facing similar problems, feared to file their cases. They believed their cases could equally be turned down. The court claimed that it denied Iqbal’s claim on procedural issues but the truth is that Iqbal was denied the chance to exercise his freedom of speech. The decision was very discriminatory and unjust. Victims of the post 9/11 detention and arrest lacked the courage to present their cases in the courts of law. They feared that their voices could be ignored, just as was with Iqbal’s case. Iqbal’s case, clearly shows how victims of unlawful detention and exploitation in the Arab Muslim community were denied justice. The government went ahead and developed a new a new standard for the federal rule procedures. This standard meant that future victims of the post 9/11 detention could not file cases against the brutal government actions to detain Arab Muslims. Iqbal represents an example of exploitation against the Arab Americans. Victims of detention are denied the chance to voice their grievances. The Iqbal case highlights on the extent to which the government exploited the Arab American community. All citizens were entitled to justice and fairness from the Courts. This was not the case after the 9/11 incident. Life changed after the Bombing incident. Fear among the Arab American community grew day by day. Iqbal was challenging the action by government officials of misusing their powers. Post 9/11 detention fueled racial discrimination in the United States (Mittal 132). Linking the Arab American society to terrorism is clearly an act of racial discrimination that may also be instilled among the citizens. Other people may perceive the Arab Americans as terrorist, therefore, would not want to associate with them. The question to ask at this point is what will happen to Iqbal, the Turkmen plaintiffs and future victims. There are many barriers against the fight for the civil rights of the Arab American Community. The voices of the victims of post 9/11 detention can never obtain hearing by the courts of law. The Iqbal case shows that the courts are not willing to address claims similar to Iqbal’s. Any other victim of detention and exploitation will fear to present his/her case. Future success in fighting this social injustice by the government agencies is very unlikely (Mittal 132). Most Arab American could challenge the racial discrimination developed after the 9/11 bombing incident. This ethnic group remains victim of hate among the entire American Society. Nevertheless, there are other characteristics of the Arab American community. If well studied, could bring more knowledge on these people. This could help reduce the terrorist related racism against the Arab American people (Salaita 165). The lawmakers and the judiciary are contributing to the discrimination of the Arab American Community through enforcing biased laws and making unjust decisions e.g. in the Iqbal case. A change can be seen by comparing lives of the Arab American people before and after the 9/11 bombing. Pre- 9/11 times saw the Arab American community as minor and invincible group. Though they were acknowledged among the society, their presence was largely unnoticed. However, after the 9/11 incident things changed dramatically. The Arab American community became a conspicuous ethnic group that everyone targeted. The demand to know more about these people was very high, and this hastened the transition from an invincible community to a conspicuous ethnic group of people (Salaita 149). The Arab American community came into the spotlight after the 9/11 with the attention creating hostility among the other American communities. The post- 9/11 racism portrayed in this paper has not only made its way in the politicians and the judiciary, but has also found its way deep within the American people. The 9/11 resulted in the United States creating policies that were very hostile to the Arab community and countries in the Middle East. After the 9/11 attacks, more scholars specialized on the Arab American Ethnic studies. This also made the Arab American community be more conspicuous because most of these studies were available to the American people (Salaita 162). Impacts of the 9/11 attacks on the Arab American community are numerous. One of the most evident effects if that the American society has developed prejudice towards the Arab American community. People have developed negative attitude towards the Arab American community. For instance, most people would pass on negative information to unknown persons with Arabic names as compared to persons with European names (William Jenkins 83). It has also been shown earlier in the paper that the ability to show prejudice towards the Arab American people is even incorporated within the judicial system. This was evident in the Iqbal case when the Supreme Court gives a biased decision towards the Arab American individual. Prejudice attitude and behavior towards the Arab American people has developed roots within the American society since the 9/11 incident. It is the duty of every individual to recognize biases and change their attitude towards the Arab American people. This will help reduce the prejudice and discrimination against these people. It is therefore, upon everyone to examine their own biases and make unprejudiced decisions based on justice and fairness (William Jenkins 84). The 9/11 attacks on the United States triggered many changes in the U.S. security system. More measures that are stringent were developed to prevent future attacks. The bombing also greatly affected the Arab American community in terms of their personalities and their overall image to the rest of the country. Works cited Ali, Yaser. Shariah and Ctizenship- How Islamophobia Is Creating a Second-Class Citizenry in America. Berkeley: University of Carlifonia Press, 2012.Print Bilici, Mucahit. "Being Targeted, Being Recognised: The Impact of 9/11 on Arab and Muslim Americans." Contemporary Sociology 40, 2 (2011): 133-137.Print Hussain, Rashad. "Preventing the New Internment: A Security-Sensitive Standard for Equal Protection claims in the Post 9/11 Era." Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights (2007): 119 155.Print Mittal, Viviek. "Using Iqbal in Iqbal: Exploiting Arabs, Muslims, and South Asian after September 11." 2010.Print Salaita, Stephen. "Ethnic identity and Imperative Patriotism: Arab Americans Before and Afert 9/11." 2005.Print William Jenkins, Susan Ruppel, Judith Kizer, Jennifer Yehl and Jan Griffin. "An Examination of Post 9-11 Attitudes towards Arab Americans." North American Journal of Psychology, Vol.14, 1 (2012): 77-84.Print Read More